Hotels-Backed Online Search Platform Roomkey Suspends Operations
Skift Take
Roomkey.com's demise (temporary or not) shouldn't be seen as a sign hotel companies can't compete with OTAs. But if revived, the brand will likely need a more in-your-face approach than pop-under ads to drive traffic.
Hotel operators have long battled with online travel agencies, but the OTAs appear to have won the struggle against one hotel-backed competitor.
Roomkey.com is no longer providing hotel search functions, the company announced Monday. But the operational suspension may not equate to a swan song for the hotel booking search engine. Roomkey is “in the process of redefining our business operations,” according to a press release.
“The board felt the resources at the company could be utilized on other strategic opportunities,” Roomkey.com CEO Steve Sickel said in an interview with Skift Monday afternoon. “Given the current uncertain economic environment that’s going on right now, they felt that would be the best decision for the company.”
